Author: Beth Duncan

Matt 6:25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life….”
When God’s working on my heart, I am rather like a dog with a bone—I keep gnawing and chewing, trying to get to the marrow of the matter. That is why so often the same or similar verses will pop up in my reflections—those are the verses that need to take root. Those verses hit the heart of the issue at hand. And when it comes to my propensity to worry, I know God’s working on me, urging me to lay my cares at His feet and rest in His peace. Jesus, Help me!
Matt 6:27 “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
One of my devotionals this morning contained this gem: “Rather than constantly worrying about what you will face, your great challenge is to continually release every area of your life to God’s control.” In other words, I’m not trying to quit worrying, which feelings like an impossible task, I’m trying to be more mindful of constantly and continually turning everything over to God. I know He’s got me. Perhaps, with this mindset shift, I can finally be successful at loosening worry’s grip. Jesus, Help me.
Phil 4:5-6 The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your infinite love and mercy. Thank You for pursuing me relentlessly and for keeping after me to turn my worries over to You instead of fretting and stewing to no avail. I know You’ve got me Lord. You’ve got us all in the palm of Your hand. Help me to rest securely in that trust. Draw us closer. Amen.
Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Have a blessed day.

Joshua 1:9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
Lord, I stand in awe of You—Your mercy, grace, and love—and I thank You for this journey we are poised to begin—a journey we prayed about and that we truly believe is Your will for our family at this time. We are all nervous, anxious, and excited, Lord. Help us to breathe in Your grace and peace. Calm our anxious hearts and minds. Draw us closer to You. Help us to lean in to You and to rest our weakness in Your strength.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Lord, We know this journey will not always be easy. Some days our only option will be to tell our feelings to “stuff it” and to keep putting one foot in front of the other. Help us to feel Your presence even more keenly on those days. Help us to lean in to Your strength more fully. We know You are with us, Lord. You have promised never to leave us nor forsake us. Help us to rest on Your promises.
Phil 4:5-6 …The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything….
Lord, Thank You—for this day, for this path, for the deep trust that this is Your will for us, for the confidence that You are walking with us. Help us to experience You on this journey in ways that would not have otherwise been possible. Help us to lean in to You and to trust You. Draw us closer to You and closer as a family. Keep us safe and help us to shine Your light. Wrap us in Your peace. Amen.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
Have a blessed day.

Phil 4:4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
It feels like it should be much easier for me to rejoice in the Lord always, since He is my hope, my anchor, my refuge, my port in life’s storms. So what keeps me from rejoicing always? My fear, my doubt, my confusion. These are my issues, not His. They don’t change the fact that He is holding me, that He can use all things for my good and His glory. They only keep me from resting in His peace. Jesus, Help me!
Phil 4:5-6a …The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything….
I usually don’t look at Phil 4:5 and 6 in conjunction with each other because they are separated by verse numbers and punctuation, but the two lines fit perfectly together—there is no need to be anxious. Why? Because the Lord is near—He’s got me, holding me, shielding me, guiding me. I do not need to be afraid.
Phil 4:6b …but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the reminder of why I don’t need to be afraid—You are with me. You’ve got me. You are in control. I want to lay all my fears at Your feet, Lord, and wrap myself in Your mantle of transcendent peace. Draw me closer. Help me to trust. Amen.
Phil 4:7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Have a blessed day.

Rev 21:6 …”To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.”
You’ve probably heard the expression, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” In this world, we don’t believe in something for nothing, so when random acts of kindness happen, we are either skeptical, amazed, or dumbfounded. “Why would someone do something nice for me, for no reason, expecting nothing in return?” We just can’t wrap our heads around it.
Isaiah 55:1 “Come, all of you who thirst, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk, without money and without cost!
And yet, this is what our amazing Savior offers to us freely and repeatedly—Come, eat, drink. It’s ok if you don’t have money. This is My gift to you because you are My beloved child. One commentary on Rev 21:6 posits, “All the unsatisfied yearnings of the heart may find satisfaction in Him.” What a precious, undeserved gift. Thank You, Jesus.
John 4:10 Jesus answered, “If you knew the gift of God and who is asking you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your inconceivable, unconventional, radical love and generosity. Thank You for Your ability and desire to satisfy our every need and for giving us streams of living water that we could never acquire on our own. Help us to shower others with radical acts of kindness that mirror the abundant blessings You share with us daily. Draw us closer. Amen.
Phil 4:19 And this same God who takes care of me will supply every need of yours according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Have a blessed day.

Matt 6:1 Be careful not to perform your righteous acts before man to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
I have tried to be very transparent about my struggles with the upcoming adventures of my family. Fear, for me, is huge—there is so much that is unknown and at this point unknowable. I continue to ask for prayers for all of us because I definitely want people praying. But this morning has me pondering whether I am giving too much attention to my fear. It is so very loud. I am so very apprehensive. But I know, unequivocally, that we will be ok. God’s got us securely in the palm of His hand. I believe that with every fiber of my being.
Matt 6:2 So when you give to the needy, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets to be praised by men….
The fear is part of the world—What if something happens to them? What if something happens to us? What if? What if? What if? I feel like, perhaps, my ready and repeated acknowledgement of that fear, which I intended as me handing it over to my Savior, was instead my handing a bullhorn to the world’s chaos, saying, “Let ‘er rip!” That was NEVER my intent.
Matt 6:5 And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men….
Lord, Thank You for this day and for continuing to work on my heart, weeding out what needs to go, and drawing me closer to You. Our situation is not unique, Lord—fear, uncertainty, apprehension—there are so many struggling with the same emotions. I do not want to give in to the clamor and chaos of this world or my fear. I trust You. I believe in You, that You have us, that You will hold us, no matter what. Help us all to lean into You and Your promises, Lord. Draw us closer. Amen.
2 Cor 12:9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.”…
Have a blessed day. 

Psalm 120:1 I call on the LORD in my distress, and He answers me.
God loves us deeply, fiercely, unconditionally. He invites us into friendship with Him, into a family bond, not because of anything we can offer Him, but simply because we are His deeply loved children. I am working valiantly to develop a closer relationship with Him, one where I go to Him daily with all of life—big and small, happy and sad, uplifting and unsettling. He is my rock and my refuge. Thank You, Jesus.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
God promises to never leave us nor forsake us. For me this means taking 1 Cor 1:9 (God faithfully keeps His promises) to heart. Always. When life is beautiful and all is well, God is in the middle of it with me. When life is overwhelmingly frightening and makes utterly no sense, God is in the middle of it with me. I can trust Him because He promised never to leave me nor forsake me (Heb 13:5), and He always keeps His promises (1 Cor 1:19).
Psalm 46:2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea….
Lord, Thank You for this day and the reminder that You are with me always, and I can come to You with anything and everything. Thank You for celebrating with me when times are good and for holding me together when everything feels like it’s falling apart. Thank You for working all things to my good and Your glory. Help me to trust You and lean into You always. Amen.
Psalm 93:4 Above the roar of many waters—the mighty breakers of the sea—the LORD on high is majestic.
Have a blessed day.

Matt 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “Whoever wants to be My disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow Me.”
I’ve mentioned many times that I’m a planner. I like to be sure I’m prepared for any eventuality so that I am not taken by surprised or inconvenienced. The truth is, I have no idea when the planner in me became so dominant, nor did I realize until recently how incredibly entrenched I have become in a completely prepared life, a life with no surprises. One of my devos this morning was frighteningly accurate when it said, “Lord, I want to be pleasing to You, but I want to stay where I am”— comfortable, secure, not inconvenienced. Jesus, Help me.
1 Cor 15:19 And if our hope in Christ is only for this life, we are more to be pitied than anyone in the world.
I realized several weeks ago that the reality of this side of my personality is that I have become reliant on myself, not on my Savior, for my day-to-day needs. I have structured my days so I know I am prepared, which inadvertently means I don’t need to trust that my Savior will provide because I’ve got it handled. I realized that this incredible journey that my hubs and my oldest embark on one week from today will be an adventure for ALL of us, moving us out of our comfort zones and closer to Him. This journey is not something I can plan or prepare for. The LORD will provide for us all.
Col 3:2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
Lord, Thank You for this day and the truths that You are placing on my heart. Thank You for the realization that my self-reliance is a massive stumbling block to my relationship with You. Help me to say YES to the opportunities You place in my path and to trust Your provision, even when I can’t plan for it. Draw us all closer to You during this incredible journey. Help us to honor You with our lives, our actions, our choices. Help us to trust and obey. Amen.
Phil 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
Have a blessed day.

John 14:16-17a And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.
My guys have a scout function today that caused them to have to be up and out incredibly early this morning. Attitudes were not at their best, which sent me searching for scripture about attitude. It’s something I struggle with as well, though I hate to admit it. One article I came across contained this gem: “…a positive attitude is not something that goes on around you, but rather, it resides within you.”
John 14:17b The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you.
I read that gem on the heels of reading John 14:17, which talks about the Holy Spirit, who lives with me and IN me. The parallel between the two really struck me. It took me back several summers when I made the startling discovery that God is outside of my feelings. He is not bound by my earthly emotions. And while my emotions are what they are, I am not a slave to them. I get to choose my attitude, regardless of my circumstances or my emotions. Jesus, Help me!
John 14:20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you.
Lord, Thank You for this day and for the reminder that I am in control of my attitude and that You sent me a Helper, the Holy Spirit, to live in me and to help me. Forgive me for the times when I have not remained in control of my attitude, when I have let my emotions or circumstances dictate my reactions. Help me, always, to choose a positive attitude, Lord. Draw me closer and help me to shine Your light. Amen.
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Have a blessed day.

Jer 17:8a “They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream….”
Anyone who comes into my classroom probably thinks I am incredibly skilled with plants. After all, I have 19 mostly-thriving plants by my window. But the truth is, I do not consider myself skilled with plants at all. Honestly, the fact that they are indeed still alive is a testament to the hardy plants I have. I’m always slightly afraid I’ll kill them with my non-gardening abilities.
Jer 17:8b …”It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
Today’s verses put me in mind of my plants. Totally dependent on me, those poor things are always at risk of death. But when we sink our roots into our Savior, when we nourish our souls from the inside with His word, then we don’t have to fear external forces—heat, drought, poor gardening skills—because we know where our strength and our life-source originates. We know God’s got us.
John 1:4 In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
Lord, Thank You for this day and the reminder that when we root ourselves in You, we don’t have to worry about whether the world will provide because we know You hold us securely in the palm of Your hand. Help us to ground ourselves daily in Your word, Your love, and Your grace. Draw us closer. Amen.
John 7:38 “Anyone who believes in Me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’”
Have a blessed day.

Matthew 25:23 “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!…’”
As I type this, the lyrics to The Afters song “Well Done” are running through my mind. Isn’t it what we all hope to hear some day? That what we did, despite the screw-ups and missteps and mistakes, was a job well done? I know I hope to hear it, but the cynical, earthly side of me, the side that so quickly and readily recites my list of mistakes, tries to convince me that I’m too much of a screw-up, too much of a fraud, to ever hear those words. Can you relate?
1 Cor 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
But God is love, and He sees through the eyes of our loving Father. He knows my heart and my intentions, even when they don’t play out as I had planned. And isn’t it the ultimate act of love, when you could lambast someone for all their many, many, many mistakes, to praise them instead for the things they have done well? “Well done, good and faithful one.” 
John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Lord, Thank You for this day and for Your Spirit of love. Thank You for seeing us through the loving eyes of the Father, for pursuing us past the edge of reason, for accepting us openly when we realized how deeply we need You. Thank You, at the end of a life lived deeply, humanly, brokenly, for seeing our hearts, our intentions, our desire to honor You, and for welcoming us Home with open arms. Help us to love each other as well as You love us, concentrating on and praising the good. Draw us closer to You. Amen.
1 John 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God because God is love.
Have a blessed day.